The field of the present invention is ice skates.
The following U.S. patents are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,484,148, 5,456,495, 5,383,674, 5,332,242, 5,318,310, 5,248,156, 4,826,183, 4,773,658, 4,453,727, 4,218,069, 4,150,837, 4,088,335, 4,085,944, 4,074,909, 4,071,938, 4,053,168, and 3,934,892, and U.S. Patent Nos. Des. 254,201, and 249,973.
In conventional ice skate assemblies such as those disclosed in the aforementioned referenced patents and those manufactured and sold by Canstar Sports Group, Inc. under the trademark TUUK, a molded plastic blade holder, which is designed to be attached to or integral with a skate boot, has a longitudinal slot or groove in which an ice skate blade is snugly received. The blade holder, either separately or in combination with a reinforcement member of greater rigidity, is designed to be in direct contact with the sides of the blade and, thereby, provides lateral support along the full longitudinal length of the blade. Greater support is typically provided toward the front and rear of the blade and less support in an around the center of the blade. The center sections are generally designed to provide increasing or non-varying lateral support to an underlying portion of the blade located generally behind the ball of the foot and increasing or non-varying as it extends toward the heel.
In operation, the support provided by the blade holder functions to inhibit the blade from freely flexing in the lateral direction along its longitudinal axis and twisting around its longitudinal axis. While conventional blade holders provide a certain degree of lateral and torsional support to the blade they nonetheless are capable of being twisted, flexed, and/or bent by the forces placed on them by the blade. Such deformations while perhaps beneficial in some circumstances may be detrimental to the efficient transfer of force between the skater and the skate blade and to the maneuverability of the skater.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved ice skate that can efficiently transfer force so as to facilitate rapid acceleration and deceleration and yet achieve the desired maneuverability.